Tuesday, August 31, 2010

With a number of polls showing a sustained level of opposition to the Democrats’ health care reform efforts more than five months after passage, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the Obama administration has “a lot of reeducation to do” heading into the midterms.

While some surveys – namely the Kaiser Family Foundation monthly tracking poll – have suggested an uptick in support for the reforms, most other surveys continue to show a steady level of opposition to the new law that remains higher than the favorable opinions of it.

“Unfortunately, there still is a great deal of confusion about what is in [the reform law] and what isn’t,” Sebelius told ABC News Radio in an interview Monday.

With several vulnerable House Democrats touting their votes against the bill, and Republicans running on repeal, Sebelius said “misinformation given on a 24/7 basis” has led to the enduring opposition nearly six months after the lengthy debate ended in Congress.

“So, we have a lot of reeducation to do,” Sebelius said.

In other words, that there is, and always has been, widespread opposition to this health care legislation stems not from the fact that it's bad legislation, but from the fact that the American people are misinformed and need "reeducation".

This is out of control arrogance from people who don't seem to understand that this is a representative democracy where the will of the people is paramount. Perhaps there needs to be some "reeducation" of those who see themselves as the "ruling class".

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Well of course they were, though you'd never know it from reading the news article. In fact, Islam, Islamic, nor Muslim is found anywhere in the piece. Either Fox has succumbed to PC, or they just assumed that you would know by now.

The controversial imam at the center of the debate over the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero says his goal is to create coalitions across the religious divide, but during a 2005 conference in Australia, he said America may be worse than Al Qaeda.

"We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than Al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims," said Imam Fiesal Abdul Rauf, speaking at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Center during a question and answer session dedicated to what sponsors say was a dialogue to improve relations between America and the Muslim world.

"You may remember that the U.S.-led sanctions against Iraq led to the death of over half a million Iraqi children. This has been documented by the United Nations," said Rauf, who called himself a spokesman for Islam.

But diplomats and others, including former President Bill Clinton, have said that sentiment is wrong. Saddam Hussein's regime corrupted then-U.N. sanctions and denied humanitarian aid to his own people.

In a Nov. 8, 2000, interview on Pacifica Radio, Clinton said if any child is without food or medicine, then Saddam is to blame because the dictator is "lying to the world and claiming the mean, old United States is killing his children."

"Acts like the London bombing are completely against Islamic law," Rauf said. "Suicide bombing, completely against Islamic law, 100 percent, but the facts of the matter is that people, I have discovered, are more motivated by emotion than logic. If their emotions are in one place and their logic is behind, their emotions will drive their decisions more often than not."

Raud added that having homes and lives destroyed does not justify "bombing innocent civilians" or "actions of terrorism."

"But after 50 years of -- in many cases -- oppression, of U.S. support of authoritarian regimes that have violated human rights in the most heinous of ways, how else do people get attention?" Rauf asked, explaining, "I'm just providing you with the arguments that are happening intra-Islamically by those who feel the emotion of pain."

If Imam Rauf cared a wit about reconciliation, he would recognize the pain of the families and friends of the more than 2,700 innocent people who were senslessly murdered just 600 feet from where he wants to build this mosque. But, as is so often the case, all he wants to talk about is the victimhood of Muslims.

Since September 11, 2001, Americans have walked on eggshells in an attempt to avoid offending the delicate sensibilites of the very religion that spawned this monsterous ideology. All the while, far too many Muslims continue to rub our noses in Islam, using our own freedoms as a weapon against us.

Yes, our freedom of religion is one of the characteristics from which we derive our greatness. That said, Islam is far more than a religion for many; it is a political system, and that is where our adherance to religious pluralism should end. We have plenty of room for multiple religious beliefs, but we simply have no room for multiple political systems.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

BUSHEHR, Iran -- Iranian and Russian engineers began loading fuel Saturday into Iran's first nuclear power plant, which Moscow has promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production.

Yeah, right. The Russians have a long history of creating "client states" in order to put a thumb in the eye of the West. Now they have created a nuclear client state in the Middle East; one that is apocalyptic in its world view and may well be the most dangerous loose cannon in a region filled with loose cannons. All the while, they freely admit that Iran is close to developing nuclear weapons:

July 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that Iran was moving closer to having the potential to create nuclear weapons.

"Iran is moving closer to possessing the potential which in principle could be used for the creation of nuclear weapons," Medvedev told a meeting of ambassadors in Moscow. (Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Dmitry Solovyov)

Aug. 20, 2010 12:28 PM ET The Obama administration has persuaded Israel that it would take roughly a year — and perhaps longer — for Iran to complete what one senior official called a “dash” for a nuclear weapon. Administration officials said they believe the assessment has dimmed the prospect that Israel would pre-emptively strike against the country’s nuclear facilities.

Ahmad Vahidi’s announcement comes a day before Iran is scheduled to launch its Russian-built first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.

Television images showed the sand coloured Qiam (Rising) blasting into the air from a desert terrain, amid chants of “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).

The words “Ya Mahdi” were written on the side of the missile, referring to Imam Mahdi, one of the 12 imams of Shiite Islam, who disappeared as a boy and whom the faithful believe will return one day to bring redemption to mankind.

Mr Vahidi, who was speaking during Friday prayers in Tehran, did not say when the launch took place nor did he disclose the precise range of the missile.

“The missile has new technical aspects and has a unique tactical capacity,” he said on state television, adding that the device was of a “new class.”

“Since the surface-to-surface missile has no wings, it has lot of tactical power, which also reduces the chances of it being intercepted,” he said.

Friday, August 20, 2010

The authorities in southern Sudan have unveiled a $10bn (£6.4bn) plan to rebuild the region's cities in the shapes of animals and fruit.

Elaborate blueprints for the new cities have already been drawn up.

The regional capital, Juba, will be relocated and designed in the shape of a rhinoceros. Wau, the capital of Western Bahr el-Ghazal state, is to be a somewhat unwieldy giraffe.

Southern Sudanese are due to vote in a referendum on independence next year.

In Juba, the office of the regional president is situated where the rhinoceros's eye should be.

In Wau, the sewage treatment plant is appropriately placed under the giraffe's tail.

There is talk that the town of Yambio will be shaped like a pineapple.

You really can't make this stuff up! This is a country where 90% of the people exist on less than $1 a day and is rife with terrorism. You would think that rebuilding cities in the shapes of animals and fruits would be pretty far down on the priority list for a country such as this.